Every sport needs its stars. Not just the best of them, but more so the box office variety, the ones that make turnstiles click (or scan), that make mums and dads want to take their kids or friends to see them as well.
The gallops are littered with good horses: Anamoe, Gold Trip, Zaaki, Eduardo, Nature Strip, Alligator Blood: each amongst those are rated highest by those that affix big numbers (called ratings) to the names as if it were as clinical as that.
Captain Ravishing streaks away with the 4YO Bonanza at Melton. Picture: Stuart McCormick
But they are ratings of a mathematical kind, not the very modern relevance of the “ratings” term that equate to perhaps the more equitable dollar sign “eyeballs”.
And as good as those horses are and will be across this year, don’t expect to see fans in their race colours or with banner signs like days of Winx and Black Caviar, when racing was truly rumbling like a day at a rock concert, and “Sweet Caroline” wasn’t the anthem.
For mine Giga Kick and Amelia’s Jewel are the two most exciting, most still fully untapped, though most likely to tickle the till of racing passion. But neither tease that air of invincibility just yet, though they carry a little of the important role of “influencer” for the sport.
But I might go out on a very long limb here and sit precariously on a teetering branch saying the most exciting equine animal in the country right now was at Melton on Saturday night. That’s right, Melton trots.
His name is Captain Ravishing, and in a sport where sometimes mangled superlatives fill the vernacular, they have a real star who upstaged the supposed night of harness racing’s best stars.
The form guide comments listed him as (co-trainer) “Emma Stewart’s standardbred cheetah”.
The morning press had contained a quote from driver Mark Pitt that read (co-trainer) “Clayton (Tonkin) had said to me, ‘you’ll need a seatbelt on this on’, and he was right.”
Captain Ravishing, the name is alluring enough, if only a blend of dad, the American superstar Captaintreacherous, and mum, the well-bred Ravishing Girl, but as caller Dan Milecki said Saturday “the equine jet put 10m on them in a blink of an eye,” as he strolled home by over 20m in a mile rate of 1.50.9s with a 26.1s third quarter – I can tell you that’s pretty quick – and he “Pitt” – ‘didn’t even pull the plugs’ – which means something like, he wasn’t fully serious and could have gone even quicker.
Melton on Saturday night was what the trots call their version of the Melbourne Cup, the A G Hunter Cup, Alexander George that is - studmaster, cattle breeder, President the Royal Agricultural Society (Show!), that fellow.
It’s been run for over 70 years, controversially changed from standing start to mobile, then back to the ragged uncertainty (and time-consuming nature) of the stand, before finally relenting in 2017 to the mobile.
Ok for the record, Honolua Bay won it, no surprise trained by Stewart/Tonkin (harness racing’s version of Maher/Eustace, Waterhouse/Bott if you like) and driven by David Moran, who was last seen change a flat tyre on the float leaving the course.
But all the talk was Ravishing. As trots expert commentator Adam Hamilton wrote for Racenet in quoting Tonkin the morning after: "He's just a complete excitement machine. The sort of horse people stop and watch," Tonkin said.
The most brilliant modern human athlete is without question Usain Bolt – who was once said without boast: “I don’t think limits.”
“Usain is that television show you turn on, and it gives you exactly what you expect from it, every time,” once said Steve Miller, a long time track and field executive who worked for Nike. “And that name. Usain. Bolt. You can’t invent a name like that.”
And without falling into the harness racing trap of illogical superlatives I hope, Captain Ravishing becomes their athlete to transcend the sport at a time well needed.
Trainer: Emma Stewart. Picture: Stuart McCormick
But this horse is not just different gravy, he is roast meat and the full plate of vegetables to compliment.
I for one will be turning on when he runs next in the Chariots Of Fire at Menangle in a fortnight, then the Miracle Mile, where you can invoke household names of ghosts past like Hondo Grattan, Pure Steel, Paleface Adios and Christian Cullen, the horse Hamilton likens Captain Ravishing to most in the modern era.
Some who watch harness racing may think it a little boring, repetitive even, sprint lanes and quarters and very little variation – though they did run a 1200m dash on Saturday night and fellow four-year-old ‘excitement machine” Catch A Wave who dodged Captain Ravishing to win that – but that was a supporting role half an hour after – a date in September for the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1m Eureka may see them yet match up.
But not even an un-trained harness eye can miss the Bolt like detonation Pitt unleashed on Saturday the still the light of day when Captain Ravishing returned from his track-record breaking 30m margin spree at Melton on a cold November night last November.
But as always, the story goes back, way back, well 30 years for owner Hass Taiba and his family, who actually made the hard decision to move their green potential star to Stewart and Tonkin after five starts, that yielded two wins and an ill-fated trip to the New South Wales Derby when Hass’ brother Ahmed was the trainer.
Only beaten once since then in a Victorian Derby from a challenged draw by potential superstar rival Leap To Fame, who is quietly waiting for the Eureka, where they currently share ante-post favoritism.
“I’ve been in this game for 30 years, plenty of trials and tribulations, ups and downs, a lot of close calls about getting a good one, but they all fell away and disappointed, until now,” said owner Hass Taiba.
“You know the most pleasing part is that he is bringing people back to the trots, getting people excited, they were clapping him on Saturday night, I haven’t seen that before, it’s so exciting, how good is that.”
Taiba, who puts himself in the property development business with a few trucks and logistics on the side, is now in that enviable position of “having a good one,” despite the side effects.
“I couldn’t sleep leading into Saturday, sometimes I wished I owned a slower one, so you don’t have the stress or anxiety, but on Sunday I slept like a baby,” he said.
“We used to sit in the grandstand and dream that one day we’d get a good horse so after 30 years we have and its just fantastic to live that dream.”
That goes back to the days at Donnybrook Road on Melbourne’s northern outskirts when the young Taiba brothers agisted horses on Ron Robinson’s property near Melbourne airport.
“We used to ride them back then and that was out entry point and we’ve been in the game ever since,” he said.
There are links through their brother Freddy to a former star in $1m earner Sushi Sushi and a host of pacing stars across the family before Ahmed got the $80k yearling to train.
“I thought it was excessive at the time, I knew that was the reserve, but I liked him, and we eventually got him at the reserve,” Hass said then sent to brother Ahmed to train.
There’s a hint of colour in the story, links to colorful racing and alleged underworld identities but not for now, because Captain Ravishing is the story and there is hopefully many more chapters to come.
“It was my brother’s decision to move him to Emma and Clayton. We just didn’t have quality horses for him to compete against, we had a horse called private Eye but we basically just had yearlings, but we wanted to do the horse justice,” he said.
That was after a “you wouldn’t believe it” trip to New South Wales for the Derby when the horse got trapped in flooded paddocks. “We had to cut through fences to get the float through, we had the councils chasing us, it was just ridiculous, an ordeal, so we spelled him up there and then sent him to Clayton,” Taiba said.
Not only is Captain Ravishing, harness racing’s excitement machine, the dollars are on the table.
“I won’t deny there has been American interest, I’ll never say no t a deal, everything is for sale at the right price, it is just whether it is generous enough,” Taiba said.
Offers for $2m for 50% are said to be floated, not confirmed by Taiba, but as a stallion prospect this is rare air for a standardbred.
“I’ve also got overtures from Alabar Bloodstock re his future breeding prospects, but noting is set in concrete, part of some deals are to stop racing after the Miracle Mile, but at the moment we are enjoying this too much.”
“And he’s not quite right yet, and he is still working it out” he said.
What?
Looked adept at it Saturday night. Superstar!
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